An Encounter To Remember
by MysticCritic
Summary: Their first meeting was definitely memorable. It was what set the cogs of fate into motion, developing that strong bond which would last a life-time…because who could resist that mystery when it called out so enticingly? Short, drabble-type series. Set for different characters' first meets. (Chapter 1: Fireworks!) (Chapter 2: Transparency)
1. Fireworks!

AN:- Hello! A new writer to this site, but definitely not new to writing! As I've mentioned before, on my short chapter in "The Never Ending Tale", I accept prompts! This is based off a prompt I'd gotten from my other half "Critic". A really, really long time ago. So, before moving on to any other prompts, I'll be writing this one first!

Do read and review!

.

Note: No pairings here. All friendship based. Romance is not a genre.

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Chapter 1: Fireworks! (KID and Conan)

* * *

Kaitou Kid carried out his heists by night-time, with the light of the moon at his back and the anticipatory audience in front of him. And no matter how much cheer and joy KID tried to project, there was always the undercurrent of worry – the crows were lurking just out of sight, after all. One misstep from the white dove, and it would be game over.

Kaito's heists took place in darkened rooms and shadowed hallways, with no light shining through. Of course, he was a thief. Darkened rooms were a _must_. He wore enough white to be contradictory, but even then this was not a magic show to be done by day. Only in the night. There was no honesty here, only lies. Only danger. In the dark, mysterious night, where shadows lurked…

Until one day, there were lit up in a burst of light: _Fireworks!_

 _…_

Kaito had planned out everything meticulously. The note had been sent. The escape route had been thought out. The competition was reflected upon. It had all been calculated and double-checked numerous times. Yup, everything was perfect.

"Bocchama, do be careful…"

 _'Ah, there goes Jii-chan again,_ ' Kaito sighed, pulling away the binoculars from his eyes, "Worry not, Jii-chan, everything has been accounted for. And, I'm not your Kaito-bocchama now. I'm the ever elusive, ever mysterious, uncatchable, Kaitou Kid!"

…

"Wind speed, check," Kaito murmured, "Wind direction, check. Nakamori-keibu, check – huh, the old man figured out the note, eh? Seems like that new tantei, Mouri, couldn't convince him of his Okino Yoko theory," Kaito cackled a bit, "But, Mouri-tantei! You've certainly made my work easier!"

Snapping open his glider, Kaito carefully leaped off the roof he was perched upon.

 _It's show time!_

…

Upon landing on the roof of the hotel, Kaito was met with the strangest sight ever.

Was that a _kid_? Why was a kid here? It was past midnight! Geez, that was going to put a wrench through his plans – wait, what was the kid doing?

The kid had turned around now; sporting an odd expression Kaito had slight trouble deciphering. Then, the child turned back, bending down to do something. Curious, Kaito called out.

"What are you doing, kid?"

The child turned, light glinting off his glasses ominously – seriously, Kaito! Get a grip, this is only a brat! – as he smiled widely and positively chirped.

"Fireworks!"

As soon as he said it, the lit rocket burst upwards, whizzing noisily before exploding in a shower of light and sparkles.

 _'Wha –?'_ Kaito turned his head in surprise, ' _Did he do that because of what – why – I think he did…?'_

The child only looked delighted and Kaito almost thought it was genuine childish pleasure, until –

"Oh, look! A helicopter! Looks like it's seen us!"

And Kaito's suspicion's came back immediately, _'Yeah, he did it exactly because of that…who **is** he?'_

The kid beamed at Kaito, and the magician couldn't resist any longer, "You're no ordinary brat, are you?"

A smirk curled up the child's lips, "Edogawa Conan, tantei sa."

…

"This is Nakamori, KID's on the roof! Apprehend him!"

Ignoring the young detective – detective? That kid? Kaito always attracted the weirdoes, didn't he? – he then cleared his throat and imitated Inspector Chaki's voice. Edogawa watched on with an expression of pure disbelief on his face. Kaito couldn't help the smug grin that graced his lips.

 _'Yes, I'm afraid you underestimated me, boy. Taking me out of this game won't be so easy. I realise now what that expression was…when you first saw me. It was the issue of a challenge. Very well, now **I** shall provide you with one!'_

"This is what you wanted, right?" Kaito asked the kid, completely ignoring the Task Force's detectives pooling onto the roof. The kid couldn't take his eyes off him either. Good.

"KID! You're under arrest!" One random officer shouted.

Kaito resisted the urge to scoff, readying a flash-bomb to put his plan into motion. And then, Kaito's eyes widened – what? Disregarding the momentary lapse, Kaito dropped a smoke bomb too, quickly disguising as a police officer, leaving a few parting words for the Edogawa brat.

"Did you know, a thief is an artist who creatively steals his target…but detectives never amount to anything more than critics who look at the remains and try to find faults…"

…

There had been many who'd faced off with KID. Many detectives, policemen, crazy witches…but KID had always managed to surprise them. Yet, for the first time, KID would have to admit, he was surprised.

 _'Really!_ ' Kaito shivered, _'Forcing me to swim back to the shore! Ruining my perfect escape plan – that's twice now!'_

The first, of course, had been on that roof top where Conan had shielded his eyes, anticipating the flash bomb, leading Kaito to drop the smoke bomb too. And okay, so that wasn't a major glitch, but this time?

"I really wonder now," Kaito sneezed suddenly, "if Tantei-kun's original plan wasn't to _capture_ me, only stall for time in that engine room… Someone ought to confiscate that soccer ball of his, though! Or his shoes," Kaito grumbled slightly as he waited for Jii-chan to pick him up, "I could have sworn they were sparkling…what are they even giving to kids these days?"

 _'But,_ ' Kaito smiled, looking down at his wet hands, _'no matter how challenging a rival, no matter how dangerous his presence, no matter how carefully I'll have to tread around him…he's something different. To be able to see through all my deceptions, figure out the trick and then unveil it in an equally mysterious manner – now, you're certainly a blast, Tantei-kun!'_

Kaito chuckled at the inadvertent pun, "Yeah, a big blast. An explosion of light in the dark skies…like those fireworks."

* * *

AN:- So, yeah, probably not very original. But, I'll be covering other unexplored 'first meetings' soon enough. Just starting off with something familiar :)

Also, somethings may seem off, considering I've not re-read the manga or seen the anime lately. Just to let you know.

xxx

PS - Hey there! This is Mystic, the better half of the duo "MysticCritic". I'm the one writing the story. Critic, on the other hand, is the one who usually reviews and shall be the one who replies to reviews too! So, yeah, this is a shared account where 'Mystic' (that's me! ^-^) writes fiction and 'Critic' criticizes...er, yeah, so that's it :P

Hope you all enjoyed chapter one! Leave a review, yes? :)

xxx

REVIEW! {:^_^:}


	2. Transparency

AN:- Hey there! Disappeared off for a while, but life's been busy. My server's also been down, so I borrowed a friend's laptop for this *chuckles sheepishly*. Anyway, here you go, another one!

Slight inspiration from Movie 20 - The Darkest Nightmare

Do read and review!

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Chapter 2: Transparency (Conan and Ai)

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Purple cushioned cars, red cashmere sweaters, blue coloured heels, white pristine lab coats, brown coffee, grey work slabs and lastly, black. Black was _Their_ colour. No matter how many colours Miyano Shiho brought into her life, it was always overshadowed by black. Even if she tried to lighten up her world, it would fade into black.

She hated black.

…

Meeting Kudo Shinichi – no, _Edogawa Conan_ – as Haibara Ai, she had great expectations. Even if all she'd heard about him was derogatory slurs from the lower ranked members of the organisation, one constant remained; his genius intellect.

The professor, Agasa Hiroshi Hakase (A man too kind for this world; who picked up random children off the road and didn't call for the police because of the child's soft, pleading words?) had nursed her back to health. For his generosity, she'd told him the truth. Besides, what else could she do in that situation? He wouldn't have believed a random girl came looking for Kudo Shinichi's shrunken self unless she was a part of that organisation.

Even he had nothing but praise for Kudo's skills.

Ai doubted it.

A detective capable enough to outsmart the organisation and not get killed? Impossible. Plus, had it not happened already? Kudo Shinichi had gotten too close and paid the price for his mistakes.

The same fate would befall him; Edogawa Conan.

…

Haibara Ai's introduction at school had gone exactly as she'd thought.

 _'He seems so surprised,'_ Ai smirked inwardly as she took the seat next to him, ignoring the other students, ' _Didn't expect that, did you, detective?'_

"Nice to meet you," Ai told him solemnly.

"A-Ah," Conan stuttered in surprise before catching himself, "Nice to meet you too."

Ai hid a smirk behind her hair, ' _This is going to be interesting.'_

…

"Sherry."

Conan's face paled, eyes widening in shock. Ai had never seen a more beautiful and morbid pallor – white suited him. Then again, so did red.

As Conan hurried to dial the Hakase's number, Ai frowned, _'I'm having trouble enough determining a colour for myself, there's no need to figure out his too.'_

…

"The poison shrunk me too," Ai told Conan dispassionately as she flipped unseeingly through a magazine, "Since I had no place to go, my only hope left was you…Kudo Shinichi," she glanced up at him, "I thought you'd certainly understand me, who was sharing the same fate as you."

Ai looked straight at him, waiting for the comforting and soothing words her sob story would bring. The Hakase had already done so, after all and the ever righteous Kudo Shinichi would be the same, wouldn't he?

He'd see the cold and broken mask of hers and offer her sanctuary, all the while trying to extract information out of her about the organisation. People were so predictable –

"Like hell I could!" Conan yelled, dismissing the Hakase's protests at his shout, "How could I ever understand you, you who created a poison to kill people?!"

What? Emotions deeply locked inside her bubbled to the surface. The guilt she'd once felt at creating the drug, but had long since buried – it was resurfacing. What was this? It looked like blue sorrow…or was it black regret?

"Do you even understand?" Conan threw her own words back at her, "Do you even understand what you did? What you created? A drug designed to poison someone, to kill!"

Ai bowed her head slightly; no, Kudo wasn't like the rest of the masses. He'd seen only the truth of the matter, not the white lies she'd fed him or the yellow sob stories. He was colouring her words with emotion, giving meaning to her work within the organisation.

He was painting her crimes black.

He was painting Akemi's death red.

He was painting her escape orange.

 _'Oh,'_ Ai blinked in surprise, _'I think I understand a bit now. All these colours though…they're so bright…they don't suit me…'_

…

It had been more than an hour now and Ai had lost hope – that was a rather common trend with her these days. It seemed like getting their hands on those floppy disks was just not meant to be. Well, she turned out to be somewhat correct in the end; Kudo Shinichi was a decent detective, but certainly not on a level that could go head to head with _Them_ and come out alive. Not if such a case had stumped him.

"Give it up, this case is unsolvable." Ai told Conan, a condescending smirk in place.

She turned around, not noticing the growing realisation behind his glasses and the tell-tale smirk that graced his lips as the truth became clear to him.

"Let's go, Hakase," Ai's words were immediately followed up by Conan's refute.

"Why the hurry?" Conan asked, "Let's stay a while and watch the culprit get apprehended."

"What?" Ai found those words surprising, had he truly figured it out or was it just a ploy to stall for time?

"Just wait and see," Conan told her calmly, "I'm going to show you, what a truth really is."

Then he ran behind the Hakase and pulled out his bow-tie, speaking with the man's voice to stop Inspector Yokomizo from leaving just yet.

…

White was the absence of colours; an antithesis to black which was the presence of all colours. Yet, in the end, they were one and the same. Black was formed when you mixed all the colours just as white light dispersed to give out a colourful rainbow.

White symbolised purity, innocence and ironically, lies. After all, it was a 'white lie' that people uttered, was it not?

Black stood for death, evil and even mysteries. And it held true, for most of the part. Didn't the Black Organisation, as Kudo-kun liked to call it, fit all the characteristics?

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, Shiho hated both, black and white, with equal fervour.

…

"Why…?" Ai asked, words nearly choking themselves in her throat, and dammit – was she _crying_?! – as she staggered a few steps to come to a stop in front of Conan, "Why?"

Conan turned around, confusion eminent in his visage.

"Why didn't you save my sister?" Ai questioned him, "If you have such good deduction skills, you should have seen through her disguise easily! Yet – yet…"

Ai collapsed onto her knees, hands clutching at the fabric of Conan's shirt as she let her grief overwhelm her for the first time since Akemi's death, crying tears of sorrow.

…

Colours were mundane and meaningless.

Black had dominated her life and the blinding white threatened to scorch her. But now, in the presence of Conan, she was neither Black nor White. She wasn't even Grey, like the name she'd chosen for herself.

She was transparent.

Conan seemed to see through her, masks and all, and read only the truth. He would accept her lies with patience, consider her truths with seriousness, dismiss her worries while promising to sort them out for her… It wasn't as if her past did not matter. He often alluded to her work as a head researcher within the organisation, consulted with her regarding their operatives and made sure to pester her for all information she could give regarding the APTX-4869.

It was as if she was not black or white or even grey… but transparent. See through, a clean slate with a new beginning – exactly what she'd been yearning for but had never dared to hope that she would get one.

"Perhaps, I do not necessarily need to paint myself with a colour," Haibara mused to herself as she watched Conan play soccer with the Shounen Tantei-dan, "With him, transparency seems good enough."

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AN:- If you enjoyed it even a bit, do consider dropping a review!

Those interested in knowing the meanings of any unusual colors, don't hesitate to ask! I'm assuming most of you understood by the context though, so I won't be writing them all down here :)

xxx

To Rockster - Yes, my first story! Also, thanks for dropping a review :) And the compliments! Gosh, I think I get high on them! Finding your audience likes reading your stories is a great felling (/^_^\\) Oh, also...This story was for you, based on your review, even if it wasn't the exact same setting *grins* Couldn't do a school setting completely, but here's part of it!

To Guest - Gomen, gomen! Did exactly see the manga or anime before writing, but hey! It's fanfiction, surely I can mess stuff up a bit? *doe eyes* Also, about the fish - HA! You can assume so :P

xxx

REVIEW! {:^_^:}


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